If you lived here, I’d know your name: News from small-town Alaska
Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books. 2005. 281 pp.

The Haines Visitor and Convention Bureau claims that Haines is “everything you dreamed Alaska would be.” Located in southeastern Alaska, Haines is located on the shores of the Lynn Canal amidst mountains, glaciers, and rivers. And unlike many rural Alaska communities, Haines is very accessible with daily flights, regular ferry service, and a road to Whitehorse.

But perhaps you don’t have time on your Alaska trip to visit this small town. The next best thing may be to read Heather Lende’s book, If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name. As a long time resident, Lende writes with clarity and compassion about life in Haines. She tells of a harrowing drive from Haines to Whitehorse in the middle of a blizzard to take their son to the hospital because of suspected appendicitis; discusses a community divided over certain aspects of a tolerance workshop for the local high school; and shares the tragedy of a young man lost when the fishing boat he was working on foundered in high seas. In all the stories she shares, the joys and sorrows of life in this beautiful Alaskan town come through.

Heather Lende has been writing a weekly column for the Anchorage Daily News for many years. She also writes the obituaries and social column for the local Haines newspaper. Ironically, it is while she shares her experiences in ferreting out details for these obituaries that we get an intimate glimpse into life in Haines. Haines is unique because of its location, wilderness and remoteness, and yet familiar because of its engaging humanity.

I suspect that Heather Lende would have written the same book regardless of what small town she lived in because of her ability to find glimmers of truth amongst the mundane details of life and death and share those through writing. If you Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name is as much about Heather Lende and her love of her community as it is about Haines. I look forward to reading her next book.